Nen
by Ithalir
Summary: "But mostly Ulmo speaks to those who dwell in Middle-earth with voices that are heard only as the music of water. For all seas, lakes, rivers, fountains and springs are his government; so that the Elves say that the spirit of Ulmo runs in all the veins of the world." A series of drabbles involving the waters of Middle-earth.
1. Fords of Isen

_A/N: These are drabbles, each concerning a certain character; "nen" means "water" in Quenya, in the sense of a lake, pool or river, and water is the common theme running through every drabble in the series. Whether you are glad that I have written, or think that I never should have set fingers to keyboard, I would like to know; any of your thoughts are welcome._

 _I, naturally, do not own the Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion, or The Hobbit. The quote in the summary is from the Silmarillion._

* * *

"The riders looked down upon the crossings, and it seemed strange to them; for the Fords had ever been a place full of the rush and chatter of water upon stones; but now they were silent ... And they saw that in the midst of the eyot a mound was piled, ringed with stones, and set about with many spears. 'Here lie all of the Men of the Mark that fell near this place,' said Gandalf." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Two Towers_

* * *

Théoden stared at the dry bed where the Isen once flowed. He looked upon the mound standing silent as the river, moonlight glinting off the upraised spears that guarded the Fords. He remembered his son, face pale in death, armor stained crimson. It seemed to him that he heard the tumult of battle echoing about him, orcs' yells and Dunlending chants mingling with the battle-cries of his people, the sickening clash of steel on flesh and armor and bone, and saw the river running red. He turned, slowly, towards the distant peak of Orthanc. Saruman had much to answer for.


	2. Mirrormere

"'Dark is the water of Kheled-zâram,' said Gimli, 'and cold are the springs of Kibil-nâla. My heart trembles at the thought that I may see them soon.'

'May you have joy at the sight, my good dwarf!' said Gandalf." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Fellowship of the Ring_

* * *

Gimli bent low over the water, ignoring the approaching hobbits. Kheled-zâram shone still and tranquil, no ripple marring its starry depths. Dark and deep and cold it slept, nestled in Azanulbizar, the heavens caught eternally in its embrace. The Crown of Durin emerged as he watched, jewels of white. And yet the bitter pain of the loss of Balin, murdered as he gazed here, and Gandalf, lost to the abyss, marred his wonder. No, he could not truly have joy at the sight. He had looked upon Khazad-dûm, and had found that the only name it deserved now was Moria.


	3. Fire and Water

"The oars were now wielded by free men, and manfully they laboured; yet slowly we passed up the Great River, for we strove against its stream, and though that is not swift down in the South, we had no help of wind." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Return of the King_

* * *

Aragorn listened to the splash of oars, loud in the night over the constant rushing of Anduin. He felt the black ship sway gently beneath his feet, the current pushing back as the oars pushed forward. The River of Gondor was doing its utmost to keep its king from his city. A dull red glare, muted by Mordor's devilry, glowed upon Aragorn's face. Minas Tirith was burning. Not a breath of wind stirred to aid the fleet, and the White City was running out of time. He paced the deck restlessly as the riverbanks rolled past with an agonizing slowness.


	4. Wide and Deep and Deadly Cold

"Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature [...] He had a little boat, and he rowed about quite quietly on the lake; for lake it was, wide and deep and deadly cold." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Hobbit_

* * *

The creature called Gollum paddled aimlessly around his subterranean lake, flat, flapping feet propelling his little boat with nary a sound or a ripple. Occasionally his grasping hands would dart into the black water to snatch a fish from its depths, and he would gurgle happily and horribly as he munched on his still-wriggling prize. The lake had sustained him for the better part of five hundred years, it and its denizens. Do not think that he was not grateful. Oh no, far from it. Only his Precious has taken better care of him than that water under the mountains.


	5. Ruination

_My thanks to Celridel for the kind reviews._

* * *

"There for ages his huge bones could be seen in calm weather amid the ruined piles of the old town." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Hobbit_

* * *

The Long Lake rippled softly under the stars, waves lapping at the shore where the old hobbit stood. The tide was very low; far out in the water, the blackened timbers of Esgaroth stood around their destroyer. Moonlight silvered the fallen dragon's bones, lighting the myriad jewels that fell from his carcass into the depths. The water gleamed, the ruins dark and alien against it. The light and noise from the new Lake-town did not carry this far, and Bilbo Baggins found himself astonished at the silence sixty years had drawn over this place where fire and battle had reigned.


	6. Belegaer

_My thanks also to Certh and brandend for their lovely reviews._

* * *

"...and the sails were drawn up, and the wind blew, and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth; and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore glimmered and was lost." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Return of the King_

* * *

The sighing of the waves had many times echoed in his dreams, endless grey water forever breaking upon distant shores. Now, the waves and the wind conspired, driving the white ship ever westwards into the Great Sea. Frodo still held the Phial aloft, though the Hither Shores were lost to mist; his tears mingled with the waters below. And yet, when Middle-earth was at last far beyond reach, he lowered the light of Eärendil and turned away, away from the Shadow, away from lasting torment, and away from his homeland; he turned, his face now to the West and hope.


	7. The Black Pool

_My thanks to Kat for the kind review._

* * *

"Out from the water a long sinuous tentacle had crawled; it was pale-green and luminous and wet." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Fellowship of the Ring_

* * *

The Watcher in the Water slept silent at the bottom of its stolen pool. Tentacles innumerable were piled and tangled, stretching far under the black water from their horrible source, glimmering with a sickly green light that did little to illuminate the dim lakebed. With a soft _plap_ , a stone broke the surface, tumbling through the depths of the slimy mere. Ripples cascaded outwards, and the Watcher awoke. The tentacles convulsed as one rose to seek the source of the interruption – and the Watcher was suddenly aware of an evil that called to it. It answered. The arm darted forward.


	8. Weak Point

"Orcs had crept like rats through the culvert [...] There they gathered in the shadow of the cliffs, until the assault above was hottest and nearly all the men of the defence had rushed to the wall's top." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Two Towers_

* * *

The Deeping Stream flowed peacefully through its culvert and under the great wall, smooth current interrupted by the orc-feet dirtying its waters. Carefully they crept, cloaked by the night, slinking through the opening made for the water's passage, waiting for their chance to strike the defenders from behind.

Gamling the Old stood upon the Hornburg, watching the dark struggle below. At the sounds of fighting and a deep shout of " _Khazâd!_ " nearby he turned, and saw that battle had breached the impenetrable wall. With a cry, he leaped down, his men behind, realizing that the innocent stream had betrayed them.


	9. Celduin

"[...] in his great age he could still wield his axe as mightily as they say he did, standing over the body of King Brand before the Gate of Erebor until darkness fell." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Return of the King_ , Appendix A

* * *

The King under the Mountain stood alone before the Front Gate. Far away the Sun was setting behind Erebor's peak, but its failing light was not what turned the River Running a dull crimson. Its once-clear waters were choked with bodies and defiled by blood as they hastened from their source in the halls where the men of Dale and dwarves of Erebor lay sheltered. All was quiet but for the stream's fretting – a mere lull. With the body of Brand behind, Dáin raised his axe. The last rays of sunset caught its edge as the first orcs came forth.


	10. Loudwater

"There were Nine Riders at the water's edge below, and Frodo's spirit quailed before the threat of their uplifted faces." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Fellowship of the Ring_

* * *

The Ringwraiths rode close behind their captain, all their dire malice bent towards the tiny halfling clinging to accursed elf-horse's mane. The only barrier between the Nazgûl and their prey was the gentle Bruinen; after all their chase, only a river between them and their master's Ring. The halfling had no chance. It may have held out for longer than expected, and continued to struggle, but in vain. It was nearly in their world, it could not defy their commands. It was doomed. Already their dark captain started into the water.

For what could a river do against the Nine?


	11. Gate-stream

"This is where the stream ran: Sirannon, the Gate-stream, they used to call it. But what has happened to the water, I cannot guess: it used to be swift and noisy." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Fellowship of the Ring_

* * *

Gandalf knelt for a moment by the parched riverbed. It was deep, carved of red stones turned brown at the very bottom by the trickle of water that had once been the Sirannon. His brow creased in a frown as he studied what remained of the powerful stream that had proudly heralded the approach to the West-door. It seemed an ill omen for a journey already shadowed by doom. "And yet there is no other way," he thought, raising his head to gaze at Caradhras the Cruel gleaming red in the sun.

He stood, turned, and led the Company onwards.


	12. Moonset over Gondor

_My thanks to WargishBoromirFan for their kind review._

* * *

"For I must watch, and wait, and think. Time passes. In the morning we must go swiftly on the ways appointed to us." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Two Towers_

* * *

Ithil's light fell over the land that bore his name as he neared the horizon. The slanting rays ignited the veil of Henneth Annûn in innumerable dancing flames of silver and white that sparkled as they plunged towards the Forbidden Pool. Faramir beheld its beauty with unseeing eyes, his thought dominated by the problem of the evil in the cave behind and its small bearer's hopeless quest. Even with his back turned he felt the Ring call to him, felt some part of him answer. Such power, so very near...

He mastered himself, and decided.

The Halflings would walk free.


	13. Evendim

_A double-drabble._

* * *

"'Few now remember them,' Tom murmered, 'yet some still go wandering, sons of forgotten kings walking in loneliness, guarding from evil things folk that are heedless.' The hobbits did not understand his words, but as he spoke they had a vision as it were of a great expanse of years behind them, like a vast shadowy plain over which strode shapes of Men, tall and grim with bright swords, and last came one with a star on his brow." - J. R. R. Tolkien, _The Fellowship of the Ring_

* * *

The waters of Lake Evendim rippled under heavy clouds, washing over the streets of long-desolate Annúminas. Its proud towers still reared pale against the dull grey sky, defiant of Nenuial's continued efforts to take back its own. Halbarad and his kindred watched over the city of their ancestors, a long labor seemingly soon forsaken – summons had come from Rivendell; Aragorn called for aid. And yet Halbarad was in doubt; his allegiance was to his chieftain, but his duty was also to the North. While he stood, tormented, a wind rose suddenly from the West, turning the ripples to waves and tearing the clouds asunder. The sunset was revealed, a sudden blaze of splendor that colored the city's stones in hues of rose and crimson. A vision came unbidden to his eyes: black ships rode up out of the West, silhouetted against the fiery light and framed by the fleeing clouds; the greatest of them led the way, and a man stood at its prow. A bright star was on his forehead, and nobility was in his bearing. The apparition vanished as swiftly as it came, and Halbarad felt the touch of his coming death – but doubt troubled him no more.


End file.
